BASEBALL: CoolToday Park joining an all-star lineup of spring venues

Wednesday

Ed Smith Stadium, LECOM Park and Charlotte Sports Park are among most popular according to ReviewTrackers

The word on the street says this guy moving into North Port who goes by the name Joe CoolToday something or other is building the pad of all pads.

When finally completed, it should be a real head-turner. Spacious enough to make Dick Vitale’s place in Lakewood Ranch look like a two-car garage. By the money being dumped in, it’s obvious Joe CoolToday plans to host some rather large gatherings.

Just one question: Will the new spring-training home of the Atlanta Braves be any better, any splashier, any more utilitarian than the hardball house in Sarasota? You know, Ed Smith isn’t a slouch by any means. Solid. Dependable. As far as we can determine, the guy hasn’t missed a day of work in more than 25 years.

And what about the diamond digs up in Bradenton? If there’s one park in which you wouldn’t leap from your seat in shock to see a black-and-white Pie Traynor emerge from the home dugout, it’s McKechnie, um, LECOM Park. By any other name, still vintage.

Want to climb into a real-life time machine? Then buy a ticket to a game at this glorious slice of history, even after the many modernizations. Even our neighbor down south, Charlotte Sports Park, opens its doors every spring to nary a complaint.

These are the rule, and not the exception, to spring-training ballparks built in the last decade. They all have to have wide concourses, escape from the sun, seats with cup holders, concession stands no more than 30 feet from any seat, and bathrooms closer still.

Today’s emphasis on creature comforts brings a shake of the head to anyone old enough to remember the original Ed Smith Stadium. Back in 1989, The Ed was cutting edge, if cutting edge means sufficient aluminum to build a fleet of 747s.

It was good enough until it wasn’t, which was about the length of time it took the Chicago White Sox to give The Ed the cold shoulder and begin looking westward. It wasn’t until the stadium got its much-needed renovation that Ed Smith moved up several spots in the hierarchy of spring parks, an ugly duckling no more.

Now? Earlier this year ReviewTrackers, a Chicago-based firm that compiles data for USA Today, looked at 36,000 online reviews for the 23 stadiums used for spring training and determined that Ed Smith was the most-liked venue.

In the four criteria — the facility itself, family friendliness, the food and drink, and the fan experience — The Ed scored highly. There’s really no bad place to watch a game, but the pavilion area behind the left-field fence remains a personal favorite. A fan can snare a fly ball home run while safely maintaining control of his or her beer.

The Ed was No. 1, with Spectrum Field in Clearwater, the home of the Phillies, coming in second. What was third and fourth? Why, of course, LECOM and Charlotte Sports Park.

The Braves’ Champion Stadium in Lake Buena Vista finished 12th out of 13 Florida parks (Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, shared by the Astros and Nationals, was last), but their new one in North Port, if the hype is to be believed, should change that ranking in a big hurry.

No detail was too small. Can’t imagine research being done on when and where the sun is its hottest, then designing a park to best minimize fans’ exposure. But it was exactly this kind of research that went into the construction of CoolToday Park. How cool is that?

But at a price tag of $140 million, we’re already hearing the usual chorus of “corporate welfare.” For an outlay of $5 million, North Port should see its investment grow in a relatively short time. If anyone knows of a better way to get tourist dollars flowing into a town or city than spring training, we’re all ears.

And, anyway, the Braves are picking up any and all cost overruns, which will total in the millions. It’s all part of the plan to make CoolToday Park the envy of cities everywhere with spring training.

Good luck turning Sarasota green.

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